scrAPES 20 - "Charles River Opens for First Public Swim Since the 1950's"

Charles River Opens for First Public Swim Since the 1950's  is about the Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts.  Before the 1950s the Charles River was very unsafe to to swim in.  The EPA gave the Charles river a quality of grade D in 1995. But in 2011 The EPA gave it a quality grade of a B, which is a huge grade difference. The water was now safe enough for the public to swim in it, but the bottom of the Charles River was still a very mushy and toxic. Now in the year of 2015, its a whole different story. According to the Boston Globe, there has been huge algae bloom in the Lower Charles River Basin and twice the amount of bacteria.

I chose this podcast because my AP Environmental Science teacher showed us and I was very interested about it. All my life I have lived  in Boston and I always wondered why I have never seen anyone swimming in the river. Also, I always heard growing up that the river was dirty and unsafe to the touch and I thought it was just so that it was a tactic for my parents so i wont run in the river. But I guess it was true the whole time.

This is very important because of the way it effects everyone. It stops a lot of people from enjoying themselves because of how dangerous it is. But it is also a reality check. The problem we have in the Charles River is small compared to what is happening in developing countries. This can help us though. If we figure out a way to help the Charles River get cleaner, imagine what can do for developing countries.

scrAPES #19 - "Chile's salmon farms losing up to $800 million from algal bloom"

"Chile's salmon farms losing up to $800 million from algal bloom" by Anthony Esposito, is all about huse algal bloom in Chile. Chile is the second largest salmon export, where they have already lost over 23 million fish and lost over $800 million in production. There are so many dead fish they can fill over 14 Olympic-sized swimming pools! The main cause of these algal blooms are because of El Nino. El Nino causes the water temperature to increase  at least 2 - 4 degrees (Celsius) above average. El Nino also brings with it a lack of rain, more sunlight and mild winds. These are all the perfect conditions to which algal appear. 

I chose this article because of the title. The very big number caught my attention and the words "losing" right next to it got me hooked. I just had to read what was going on with $800 million and why they were losing it. 

This article is important to the environment because this can happen anywhere and just specifically to salmon. Everything and everyone can get effected by it. But this can help us understand what to do and how to prevent it from happening.

Reflection - " Food Miles"

Today with the guest speaker, we learned what food miles were and how literally everything has one. We also tried guessing what the food miles were for the school. A lot things go into food miles such as the the cars being driven to carry that food from place to another. We also had a mini game where we guessed what each food in the schools food mile is.

I learned that food miles is very important to the Earth because they can harm us. With each food mile, many toxic chemicals are being released into the air. Event the smallest of products can have the biggest food miles. 

Reflection - " Oregon Rancher Standoff"

During the Oregon rancher standoff, a militia of ex military men captures and seized a wildlife center. This center was very important because there are very important artifacts and fossils. These artifacts and fossils are important because they could tell us so many things that could better our understandings of the past. There was a shoot out with the police when the police finally wanted to do something. At least 1 person was killed and everyone else was apprehended and sent to prison. 

My opinion on this whole standoff is that,  why did it take 41 days for the police to finally do something? This whole thing could have been avoided if they automatically tried to stop them. I first heard about this standoff because of the racial views people were saying about it. They were saying the only reason why the cops never did anything right away was because they were white. But if they were black, the whole police force and some back up would stop the whole operation down in less than an hour.

scrAPES #18 - "Californian Gas Leak Confirmed As The Largest In U.S. History"

"Californian Gas Leak Confirmed As The Largest In U.S. History" by John L Davis, is all about the major gas leak that happened in California.  In Aliso Canyon, near Los Angeles, there was massive well that blew-out. It became the largest methane leak in U.S. history. It released over 90,000 tonnes of gas in the air. It was releasing 60 tonnes an hour. During the blow-out, over 11,000 families had to be evacuated out of there homes.  The gas was being released for at least 4 - months before it was stopped. It took SoCalGas (the fourth largest natural gas storage facility in the U.S) about $250 million and counting due to lawsuits and fines. 

This article caught my eye because of the title. Knowing myself, after reading " ... confirmed as the largest in U.S history" I was hooked. I am always interested in records being broken, even though there good or bad. Also, I chose this article because of the picture. The picture is very interesting to look at. There this place that covered in black.

The reason why this article relates to environmental is because of what the damage the methane leak can do.  Not only is it harmful to the earth but it can be very harmful to us if not treated directly. As people were being evacuated there were already people complaining of headaches, nose bleeds, and etc. The main focus though is the Earth. Methane is a green house gas which is very harmful to the Earths ozone layer.

scrAPES 12 - "A California crab ban reveals trouble in the Pacific Ocean "

A California crab ban reveals trouble in the Pacific Ocean by  Azure Gilman, is about  what fishermen have found in crabs . High levels of  domoic acid have been found in the dungeness crabs along the California coastline. The domoic acid is a neurotoxin harmful to humans and other animals.  These toxins are made by algae  which thrive in warmer temperatures. Because of the acid being found in the crabs it was the first time in California in history for California Fish and Game commissions to be delayed during that week.  They also suspended the harvest of rock crab which can usually be harvested year round.  By stopping the harvest of the Dungeness crab and the rock crab, it put a major financial setback for the fishermen who make there living by harvesting  crab.  They usually can bring up $60 million a year of just harvest.  Not only is it crabs being banned but other animals are being banned due to the high rates of domoic acid. 

The reason why I chose this article is because  of the title. The title intrigued me to choosing this article because I personally do not like crabs but my whole family does. I was predicting something bad going on inside the crabs, which I was right. This is very interesting to me because of my interest toward animals and how they work. I think it is very cool that there is a toxin that is being made by algae and how that toxin travels so fast to other animals, including us. 

This article relates to environmental science because  of the damage it is doing to the marine ecosystem. This toxin have caused many fish to die and also the spread of the toxin is rapidly growing.  With this toxin it can greatly affect the marine life by killing these animals. Also, we can use this to our advantage. All toxins have a cure, we just need to figure out how to cure it. So by understanding what this toxin is inside and out we can figure out how to cure this toxin.

scrAPES #17 - " Rare turtle, thought extinct, reintroduces into wild"

The article, "Rare turtle, thought extinct, reintroduces into wild" by Michael Casey, is about a rare turtle that was thought to be extinct appeared. About 60 Myanmar roofed turtles were released in the wild. This is a very important moment for a program that lasted seven years to revive the turtles. Now there are more than 600 turtles spread across several countries. Another facility is now holding up to 300 turtles alone. There goal for the next few years are to slowly put these turtles back into the wild. They have yo meet certain standards to be set the wild. But due to rapid habitat loss the turtles that have been sent out to the wild have plummeted. Many programs are still trying to bring back these turtles back to full strength.

The reason why I chose this article is because if the cover image. I saw this cute little turtle and wondered to myself, what happened to this little guy? It turns this cute little turtle was thought to be extinct for many years. Now that they were found and many people are trying to help and save there species makes me very happy. Many men and women are spending a lot of money to help this species get back on their feet.\

This article relates to environmental science because of the animal going extinct. The main reason this animal was going extinct is because of a major problem that is being supported by humans, habit loss. Habitat loss is major cause for many animals to be going extinct and humans are the main source. If we stop doing what we are doing we will have so many different ecosystems and so much biodiversity that Earth will more look like Earth before we started to deforest and other things.